A new report has revealed that the UK appears to rank poorly for work-life balance compared with other countries, placing 34th out of 40 nations.
The Work-Life Balance Report 2024, conducted by HR systems specialist Access People, found that Spain leads the way in work-life balance, while the UK falls behind in several key areas.
The report examined various factors such as paid annual leave, bank holidays, maternity and paternity leave, and four-day working week policies.
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Each country was assigned a score out of 100 based on these criteria. Despite the advent of hybrid work patterns in the UK, its overall score (34), left it in the bottom 10. Spain topped the list with a score of 58 with France second on 55. The UK’s score was higher than the US (33), China (31) and India (33).
A significant factor keeping the UK in a lower position in the table was annual leave and bank holidays. While top-ranking countries like France and Norway offer 25 days of statutory leave, the UK offers only 20 days (28 including bank holidays). The number of bank holidays in the UK is comparatively low at eight, compared to 14 in higher-ranked countries such as Spain and Lithuania. Finland offers 39 days of holiday while Greece offers 37.
The UK’s maternity and paternity leave offerings also caused it to fall short in the rankings, because employees do not receive their full wage during all of this time. Along with the lack of legislation on the four-day working week, this caused the UK to find itself in the bottom half of the index, below the likes of Ireland, Austria, Portugal and Poland.
UK mothers get some pay for a longer period than the average of 19 weeks among the OECD group of countries. But the average payment rate is lower than in many countries where the length of paid leave is shorter. Governments in Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, Turkey and Slovenia pay full salary for between 14 and 24 weeks. By contrast, the US offers zero federal statutory maternity pay. However, some states such as California offer up to eight weeks’ paid family leave at about two-thirds of earnings.
With searches for “work abroad visa” increasing by 27% in the UK, this report suggests that many workers may be looking for opportunities in countries with more favourable work-life balance policies.
Charles Butterworth, managing director of the People Division at the Access Group, said there was a common misconception among employers that a healthy work-life balance led to a decrease in employees output and productivity. “But in reality,” he added, “it’s poor work-life balance that can directly contribute to both of these issues.”
- Spain (57.92)
- France (54.89)
- Kazakhstan (52.63)
- Lithuania (52.16)
- Iceland (52.09)
- Japan (50.43)
- Norway (49.36)
- Luxembourg (48.49)
- New Zealand (48.30)
- Austria (47.83)
- Canada (25.53)
- Switzerland (27.68)
- Mexico (30.55)
- China (30.75)
- USA (33.12
- India (33.81)
- UK (34.00)
- Australia (34.43)
- Ireland (34.63)
- Romania (34.86)
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